St John's Pre-school Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children benefit from being in the care of an exceptional staff team. Children enter excitedly and are warmly greeted by staff who know them very well. Children have excellent manners. They are highly effective communicators and play cooperatively in the stimulating learning environment provided by staff. Children have an excellent understanding of the routines and boundaries of the pre-school. This helps children to feel safe and secure.

Children take part in wonderful small-friendship groups. They are learning how to be a nice friend. Children demonstrate excellent turn taking as they wait patiently to have their go. Children confidently talk about their feelings and offer compliments to their friends. For example, they say, 'You have done good sharing' and 'You have shown good listening'. Children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), show a high level of understanding and management of their own feelings.

Experienced and highly qualified staff provide a well-structured curriculum that builds on what children already know and can do. For example, staff support children's mathematical understanding as they catch fish in the water. The children count out how many they have caught. They explore who has got more or less fish in their fishing nets. The carefully planned curriculum means that children, including those with SEND, make excellent progress in their learning and development.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• The manager and trustees have high expectations and work tirelessly to ensure the children have the very best experiences. They ensure that children are given every opportunity to be independent and learn about something new. They carefully consider and choose the type of resources and equipment, and how these are presented to the children. As a result, children show high levels of curiosity and a sense of wonder in their learning.
• Children's development in communication and language is given extremely high priority. Staff consistently model good language to children. Staff introduce new words and demonstrate them in short sentences. As a result, by the time the children leave the pre-school, they have made exceptional progress in their speaking and listening skills. For example, children explain what a stethoscope is as they demonstrate how they can listen for a doll's heartbeat. They name parts of the body then point them out on a body diagram.
• Staff nurture a love of books in children. They have access to a wide variety of books and audio books. Children are given regular opportunities to take a book home to read with parents. Children discuss their thoughts on the stories and create their own play, based on these. For example, children use puppets with enthusiasm and excitement to recreate popular stories.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, staff have reflected on the gaps children have in their learning. Using a highly innovative series of planned learning opportunities in small groups, and through individual support, staff have targeted the weaker areas. Children are making excellent progress. For example, children take turns to share a drill as they create dinosaurs. They catch bubbles or catch a frog as they learn to make choices.
• The support put in place for children who require additional help in their learning is outstanding. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has excellent understanding and knowledge. She knows how to implement targeted support for children to ensure they reach their full potential. She has formed highly effective partnerships with external professionals. The SENCo works closely with key people to ensure additional funding is used to the best advantage for the children.
• The management team empowers the staff to continually develop their skills and knowledge. The whole staff team constantly seeks out new ways to benefit children's learning. Leaders ensure staff and children's emotional and spiritual well-being is a high priority.
• Partnership with parents is excellent. Parents comment on the excellent feedback they receive from staff, either in person or electronically. Parents appreciate the home-learning bags and advice they receive from staff to support their child's development at home. They appreciate that the pre-school is welcoming parents back into the setting, following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.